I never fully understood all the sub-catagories of metal, meaning I never considered Metallica thrash, though I think Megadeth is an example.
I always felt Kill ‘em All is the most amazing first album ever put out in metal. Usually Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets duke it out for favorite Metallica album in my head. Sometimes Lightning wins, sometimes Puppets.
I never got into Slayer. It might be that in my high school experience the douchiest metalheads exclusively wore Slayer shirts. Guilt by association I guess.
Anybody have favorite progressive bands?